Monday, November 30, 2015

Former CIA officer charges that: "The Obama administration effectively switched sides in what used to be called the Global War on Terror [GWOT] when it decided to overthrow the sovereign government of our Libyan ally, [which had] been helping in the fight against al-Qaeda, by actually teaming up with and facilitating gun-running to Libyan al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood [MB] elements there in 2011"

By 2012 the CIA was put in charge of collecting up and shipping out [surface-to-air missiles] SAMs from Libya on Libyan ships to Turkey for overland delivery to a variety of jihadists, many of whose members later coalesced into the Islamic State, aka ISIS

Edwin Mora, writing in Breitbart News says that "The Obama administration pursued a policy in Libya back in 2011 that ultimately allowed guns to walk into the hands of jihadists linked to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and al-Qaeda (AQ) in Syria, according to a former CIA officer who co-authored [the] report .... (See "Benghazi Commission: Obama Admin Gun-Running Scheme Armed Islamic State" by Edwin Mora, 11/30/15, Breitbart News [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/30/benghazi-commission-obama-admin-gun-running-scheme-armed-islamic-state/]). "So says Clare Lopez, a former CIA officer and the primary author of CCB’s interim report, titled How America Switched Sides in the War on Terror, speaking with Breitbart News...."

“.... 'The Obama administration effectively switched sides in what used to be called the Global War on Terror [GWOT] when it decided to overthrow the sovereign government of our Libyan ally, Muammar Qaddafi, who’d been helping in the fight against al-Qaeda, by actually teaming up with and facilitating gun-running to Libyan al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood [MB] elements there in 2011,' explained Lopez. 'This U.S. gun-running policy in 2011 during the Libyan revolution was directed by [then] Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and [the late Libya Ambassador] Christopher Stevens, who was her official envoy to the Libyan AQ rebels.'...”
To avoid having the funds tracked back to the Obama administration, the arms flow to Libya was financed thru the United Arab Emirates, while Qatar served as the logistical and shipping hub, Ms. Lopez noted.

STARTING IN 2012 U.S. SUPPLIED -WEAPONS STARTED MOVING FROM LIBYA THROUGH TURKEY TO ISIS IN SYRIA

“In 2012, the gun-running into Libya turned around and began to flow outward, from Benghazi to the AQ-and-MB-dominated rebels in Syria,” Lopez added. “This time, it was the CIA Base of Operations that was in charge of collecting up and shipping out [surface-to-air missiles] SAMs from Libya on Libyan ships to Turkey for overland delivery to a variety of jihadist militias, some of whose members later coalesced into groups like Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS [also known as IS]...” [Jabhat al-Nusra is al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate].

PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNED ORDERS ALLOWING CIA AND OTHER AGENCIES TO DEAL WITH AMERICA'S ENEMIES IN TIME OF WAR

“It’s been reported that President Obama signed an Executive Order on Syria in early 2012 [just as he had done for Libya in early 2011], that legally covered the CIA and other U.S. agencies that otherwise would have been in violation of aiding and abetting the enemy in time of war and providing material support to terrorism,” notes Lopez. “Still, such blatant disregard for U.S. national security can only be described as deeply corrosive of core American principles.”

LOPEZ EXPLAINS WHY THERE HAS BEEN SUCH A WET BLANKET THROWN OVER BENGHAZI

“... 'There can be no greater treason than aiding and abetting the jihadist enemy in time of war – or providing material – weapons, funding, intel, NATO bombing – support to terrorism,' she continued. 'The reason Benghazi is not the burning issue it ought to be is because so many at top levels of U.S. government were implicated in wrong-doing: White House, Pentagon, Intel Community-CIA, Gang of Eight, at a minimum, in Congress, the Department of State, etc. ...'. ” The "members" of the so-called “Gang of Eight” in 2011 included: the House Speaker Rep. John Boehner, , the House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Mike Rogers, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the Sen. Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, the Sen. Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, , Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

HILLARY'S RECENT TESTIMONY ABOUT "GUN RUNNING" IN LIBYA

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had been asked about gun running operations when testifying before the House Select Committee on Benghazi in October. At that time, the Democratic presidential frontrunner claimed she had not been aware of any U.S. government efforts to arm jihadists in Libya and Syria. However, Clinton admitted that she had been open to the idea of using private security experts to arm the Qaddafi opposition, which included al-Qaeda elements, but she added that it was “...not considered seriously...”

Local activists in Bay Ridge worry about "Micro-conversions" legitimizing illegal conversions of one- , two- and three- family houses into subdivided housing throughout neighborhoods in State Senator Golden's district

More proof of the conspiracy of politicians, developers, union activists and low-income housing advocates comes from the Southeast end of Golden's district --- Planning Board 11 voted in favor of creation of micro-units --- Interestingly, a statement by an erstwhile Golden ally and close associate of Jerry Kassar, Ross Brady, "sounds the alarm" about the measure's legitimizing illegal conversions

Even with the clock ticking down to next week's NYS Supreme Court showdown between the duly elected KCRP Chairman Arnaldo Ferraro and Marty Golden's hand-picked man for the job, Ted Ghorra, some real world political maneuvering is going on --- and it is likely to change the face of much of State Senator Golden's home neighborhood, as well as the rest of his district.

According to an article recently posted in the Bay Ridge Journal, ".... Local critics of the proposed plan have zoomed in on a provision that would enable the inclusion of studio apartments under 400 sq. ft. in new residential construction. Gentile fears this provision would create a loophole through which illegally-subdivided one-room apartments in existing homes could be legitimized.... But the provision responds to a finding by the NYC Department of City Planning that there is a surging demand for micro apartments to alleviate the shortage of single-occupancy units in a city where 50% of all households are comprised of a single adult and developers have stopped including studio apartments in new construction.... (See "Would Micro-Units Legitimize Illegal Home Conversions?" by Kip, 11/24/15, Bay Ridge Journal -- The View from My Block [http://bayridgejournal.blogspot.com/2015/11/would-micro-units-legitimize-illegal.html]).

This article by Kip provides the latest insight into what I have called "Marty Golden's stab in the back" to older generation Brooklynites, many of whom have been part of his base of Republicans and Conservatives. Oddly, it was an associate of Jerry Kassar who seemed to have been most vocal in sounding the alarm. This is how the Bay Ridge Journal reported it: ".... [C]ritics of the zoning proposal [say that] meeting the demand for single-occupancy units is less significant than confronting the threat of illegal home conversion. Lawyer Ross Brady, who sits on CB 11, sees the plan, by incentivizing the creation of new micro-units, as legitimizing existing illegally-subdivided units.... [Others disagreed, or simply steam-rollerd Brady] On November 12, CB 11 voted in favor of the zoning amendment."

Ross Brady is only described as a lawyer and member of Community Board 11. However, Brady was a former GOP district leader in a part of Brooklyn that included the Southeast tip of State Senator Golden's district in Marine Park. More recently, Mr. Brady has represented that area and been an executive member of Jerry Kassar's Brooklyn Conservative Party.

As I have said in the past; Golden, Kassar and the whole of the Golden-supporting cabal, including people like teddy Ghorra, need to clarify and explain what Golden is doing supporting Mayor de Blasio's housing plans.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

This time it's for the "Homeless" — But, more is coming from the developers for other categories of "low & middle income" folksCitizens from Bay Ridge and other areas, who make up the backbone of the conservative Republican support for State Senator Martin Golden, are about to get a series of knives in the back from “their” state senator — “ The [de Blasio] plan calls for about 7,500 newly constructed apartment buildings and 7,500 “scattered site units.” — Republican-Conservative State Senator Martin Golden (Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Marine Park) promises “... to develop even more...”For some very ulterior reasons Golden looks like he has completely signed onto to a lot of low-income housing for Southwest Brooklyn — Marty Golden’s newest allies call local communities and local planning boards “... pains in the ass...” for their opposition to all or parts of the plan

By now, most of you have heard about Republican-Conservative State Senator Martin Golden’s appearance with Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday; or seen State Senator Golden’s beaming visage next NYC’s Mayor on the local news broadcasts ( See e.g., “Mayor de Blasio announces $2.6B supportive housing plan for NYC – without support of state” by Erin Durkin, 11/18/15, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mayor-de-blasio-announces-2-6b-supportive-housing-plan-article-1.2439827}).

GOLDEN SHOWS HIS SUPPORT FOR DE BLASIO’S $2.6 BILLION HOMELESS PLAN

According to the report in the Daily News — “.... Asked about the breakdown of talks with the state, de Blasio suggested his rival, Gov. Cuomo, was to blame — saying both houses of the Legislature have shown “extraordinary” support.... ‘It’s rare, this level of agreement within the Senate, within the Assembly,’ said de Blasio, who was flanked by state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Brooklyn) in addition to Democratic pols. ‘I don’t want to speak for anyone else, in terms of how they make their decisions. I think we’re seeing a lot of leadership from the Legislature.’...”

Here’s how the NY Observer dealt with Marty Golden’s support of the mayors’s homeless housing plan: “.... Mr. de Blasio was joined by Republican State Senator Martin Golden, who praised Mr. de Blasio and called for the creation of more supportive housing, and the mayor argued that showed there was bipartisan support in the Legislature—implying that the holdup was with the governor....” ( See “City Moves Forward Without the State to Build Housing for the Homeless, by Jillian Jorgensen, 11/18/15, Observer/News [http://observer.com/2015/11/city-moves-forward-without-the-state-to-build-housing-for-the-homeless/]).

According to the Observer report — “.... The plan calls for about 7,500 newly constructed apartment buildings and 7,500 “scattered site units.”

A report in “J*P Updates” characterized Republican State Senator Golden’s support of Mayor di Blasio’s homeless housing plan as being “...in de Blasio’s corner...” The J*P Update’s article said that “... [a]mong those in de Blasio’s corner were Sen. Martin Golden and Councilman Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn Heights), who commended his efforts in cleaning up the streets.... ‘Supportive housing will be an effective long-term solution to our growing homeless problem, providing an environment in which we can deal with the homeless with dignity, respect and care.’...” ( See “De Blasio Fights NYC Homelessness with 15,000 Housing Support Units
by Ryan Haas, 11/18/15, J*P Updates [http://jpupdates.com/2015/11/18/de-blasio-fights-nyc-homelessness-with-15000-housing-support-units/]).

HERE’S WHAT GOLDEN HIMSELF SAYS ABOUT SOME OF IT

“Republican State Senator Marty Golden considers the plan to be an effective, long-term solution. ‘Not only are individuals provided with safe clean housing, they are offered counseling and programs to provide the necessary help to address their individual needs. I commend Mayor Bill de Blasio for his commitment of 15,000 units over 15 years and I am confident that New York State will agree to develop even more. Supportive housing provides an environment in which we can deal with the homeless with dignity, respect and care.’...” (See “Brooklyn Pols Hail De Blasio Creation Of Supportive Housing” by Lenore Fedow, 11/18/15, Kings County Politics [http://www.kingscountypolitics.com/brooklyn-pols-hail-de-blasio-creation-of-supportive-housing/]).

COMMUNITY OPPONENTS OF CITY’S CURRENT $2.6 BILLION HOMELESS HOUSING PLAN CALLED “...PAINS IN THE ASS [ ]...”

Also contained in the News report cited above is this politician’s view of community opposition to the mayor’s housing plan: “... there are ‘people in the neighborhood who are pains in asses when it comes to siting a place for the building[s] — pains in the asses!’ [That politician] urged supporters to register to vote and get active on their community boards right away to counteract the eventual opposition.” That politician, Manhattan leftist Borough President Gale Brewer is one of State Senator Golden’s and Mayor Bill di Blasio’s allies in this homeless housing program.

WHY IS MARTY GOLDEN DOING SOMETHING LIKE THIS ???

Golden now sees himself principally as a power in Albany; but at the same time, he’s terrified of an attack from the left in his old bailiwicks in Southwest Brooklyn. By siding with various leftish advocacy groups, liberal establishment Democrats >>> and building developers <<< Golden is trying to head off or minimize support for any strong left-of-center Democratic candidate for state senate in the 22nd SD in 2016, like Andrew Gounardes in 2012.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

BELIEVE IT OR NOT, TEDDY GHORRA HAS RUN HIS FIRST BROOKLYN GOP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING AS KCRP CHAIRMAN — SO SAYS JERRY KASSAR IN THIS WEEK'S "COMMON SENSE" COLUMN

According to the Kings County Conservative Party Chairman, wearing his Home Reporter columnist's hat:
— “Congratulations to Bay Ridge’s Teddy Ghorra who chaired a very well-attended meeting of the Brooklyn Republican Party executive committee, his first, held recently in a meeting room at the Bridgeview Dinner. The party’s executive committee is comprised of elected State Committee members representing Assembly districts from all around the county.

As much as there has been some controversy relating to who chairs the Brooklyn Republican Party, which has resulted in the Board of Elections refusing to recognize a chairperson until a court or the State Republican Party provides guidance, the fact that, according to those in attendance, over 75 percent of the Brooklyn party’s leaders either attended in person or by proxy this executive committee meeting, it is apparent who the rank and file view as their chairperson. As proof, the Brooklyn party posted to various social media sites pictures of the filled meeting room and those in attendance.

Arnaldo Ferraro, who has also been mentioned as chairperson, will continue to dispute who is chairperson. What he cannot dispute is who the leaders of his party have shown allegiance to by flocking to a duly called meeting by Ghorra....” (See "Common Sense: Teddy Ghorra" by Jerry Kassar, 11/12/15, Home Reporter/ Spectator [http://homereporter.com/common-sense-teddy-ghorra/]).

Former GOP Assembly Candidate in the 46th AD and City Council opponent to NYC Councilman Vincent Gentile AGAIN calls out “VINNY” to speak-out against the extreme and inflammatory rhetoric of fellow Bay Ridge Democrat Linda Sarsour

The most recent Bob Capano Op-Ed for the Orthodox Jewish-oriented blog, “J*P Updates,” started off like this: “One month after Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab-American Association made her most recent extreme comments on twitter, Bob Capano, who was the Republican, Conservative, and Independence party candidate against Councilman Vincent Gentile in 2009, today called on the incumbent to end his silence on the issue. He said that Gentile must use his influence with the Arab-American Association to end the pattern of irresponsible comments of Linda Sarsour, or end taxpayer funding of the organization....” (See “Op Ed: One Month Later Councilman Gentile Still Silent On Extreme Comments Of Linda Sarour” by Bob Capano, 11/10/15, J*P Updates/ Op-Ed [http://jpupdates.com/2015/11/10/op-ed-one-month-later-councilman-gentile-still-silent-on-extreme-comments-of-linda-sarour/]).

Capano continued this “attack” portion of his piece with this: “... ‘Councilman Gentile can no longer remain silent as Linda Sarsour, the Executive Director of the Arab-American Association, an organization based in [his] district that he spearheads funding for each year, continues to make statements promoting violence against Israelis that divides our community and city.” Since 2012, the Arab-American Association has received over $164,000 in taxpayer funds from the City Council. Mr. Capano stated that Gentile should demand that the organization ensure that Ms. Sarsour, his constituent, ends her pattern of extreme comments against Israel and Jewish citizens. If she refuses, the Arab-American Association should end their association with her or face losing taxpayer funds....”

What jumps out of the text of this piece is that it doesn’t mention the word >>> “AGAIN” <<< nearly often enough. The people of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights need to have it driven home that Gentile funded and subsidized Linda Sarsour for some time now, but Councilman Gentile has been AWOL in keeping Sarsour on the right side of the line of civility. Nonetheless, Op-Ed-ster Bob Capano did chide Councilman Gentile about this very think just last month.

Whether this is just a Bob Capano redux, or if BC were being annoyingly repetitious to drive his point like a spike into Vinny’s heart — he needed to let everybody know why he’s doing what he's doing. In the absence of that, I have my own theory.....

WHAT’S BOB CAPANO REALLY DOING ?

Following the passages quoted above, Bob Capano added this: ‘As an aide to Democrat and Republican elected officials in Brooklyn for many years, and as a little league baseball manager and President of the 68th Precinct Youth Council, I have coached many Arab-American children in our community, had positive relationships with their parents, and worked with many respected leaders of this community. I know that the pattern of extreme and radical statements of Linda Sarsour do not represent the vast majority of Arab-Americans in our community.’ I think all of that is more of a buildup of Bob Capano than it is an attempt at a takedown of Linda Sarsour.

An earlier passage contained this fragment: “... Capano, who served as District Director to former Republican Congressman Bob Turner and Director of Community Relations to former Democratic Borough President Marty Markowitz...”. Now, I put it to you, just how much of your own biography and resume do you need to put into the sauce, if the purpose of your recipe is just to cover somebody else with dollops of hot gravy?

I doubt that this second chorus of “Row, row, row your boat....” is really a hit piece at all..... If it were, it would have been much tougher on Gentile and/or Sarsour than the first iteration [which I also covered at the time]. I think the answer is something a little less obvious, but certainly more reasonable and PREDICTABLE.

IS BOB CAPANO GETTING READY FOR A RUN ? IF SO, THEN WHAT”S HE RUNNING FOR ?

Yes, YES ! ! ! I think he is. Exactly "WHAT'S HE RUNNING FOR" is discussed further down this page.

After this year’s spectacular crash and burn by the Republican candidate for assembly in the 46th AD; and, along with her, the classic fail of the new KCRP Chairman Arnaldo Ferraro to deliver anything or anybody for any meaningful political purpose on election day, the field is wide open in the 46th AD for Bob to run there — and remember, he did this all before without any real help or support from either Arnaldo or Lucretia ..... [In fact, there’s a bit of opposite history there].

So why do that ??? Well, you might ask !!!

A little birdie told me [well, not that little] that “Bob” has a plan to BE >>> THE GOP CANDIDATE <<< for Vinny Gentile’s open City Council seat in 2017 [and, actually, it’s not just “Bob’s” plan — wink, nod, touch the side of the nose]. Last time out for Bob Capano, he ran for the Assembly in the 46th AD in 2008 as a prelude to his City Council run in 2009.

The difference in 2016 and 2017 is that Bob is now part of a bigger city-wide operation and coalition. Also, he comes into 2016 and 2017 as a relatively fresh property, and he's not tainted by the Brooklyn GOP organizational wars of 2013 and 2015 [the Golden-Eaton-Ferraro thing] — something that John Quaglione can’t say vis a vis the City Council seat, and Lucretia Potter can’t say about the 46th AD assembly spot. More important, Bob Capano can run all-out for two straight years with a real competitive run for a seat that will almost be like an “open seat,” since Pam Harris still won’t be right for the district. – but wasn’t even tested in 2015 by Lucretia Potter.

Unless somebody else comes along, Bob will be tough to beat in a GOP primary in 2016 or in 2017; in fact, Bob will be tough to beat in GOP primaries for offices in both 2016 AND 2017.

More details when I get them.....

Btw, don't be surprised to see more Sarsour-Gentile Op-Eds by BC in the future — possibly in an Orthodox Jewish oriented blog near you.....

Hillary has a big pebble in her shoe and it’s called E-mails --- But, whenever she tries to get rid of the pebble, she finds a new knot in her shoelaceFormer Secretary of State and her top State Department aides signed security Non-disclosure Agreements (NDAs)

At long last, an important missing link in the Hillary Clinton E-mail saga has suddenly turned up. Security experts have long opined that Clinton signed such some kind of non-disclosure security agreement upon assuming her duties as Secretary of State. However, a copy of her specific agreement, wasn’t available until it had been obtained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute through an FOIA request. The agreement that was obtained was shared with the Washington Free Beacon; and it reveals for the first time the exact language of the NDA signed by former Secretary Hillary Clinton (See “Clinton Signed NDA Laying Out
Criminal Penalties for Mishandling of Classified Info” by Lachlan Markay, 11/6/15, Washington Free Beacon [http://freebeacon.com/politics/clinton-signed-nda-laying-out-criminal-penalties-for-mishandling-of-classified-info/])..

HILLARY CLINTON’S NDA

According to a report in the “Washington Free Beacon” — “As the nation’s chief diplomat, Hillary Clinton was responsible for ascertaining whether information in her possession was classified and acknowledged that “negligent handling” of that information could jeopardize national security, according to a copy of an agreement she signed upon taking the job.... A day after assuming office as secretary of state, Clinton signed a Sensitive Compartmented Information Nondisclosure Agreement that laid out criminal penalties for “any unauthorized disclosure” of classified information....”
According to the clear import of the language of the non-disclosure agreement, it was Clinton’s responsibility to ascertain whether INFORMATION shared through her private email server was “classified.” The agreement specifically states the following: “.... I understand that it is my responsibility to consult with appropriate management authorities in the Department.... in order to ensure that I know whether information or material within my knowledge or control that I have reason to believe might be SCI....”

ALSO — CHERYL MILLS AND HUMA ABEDIN SIGNED THEIR OWN NDAs

Also according to Lachlan Markay’s report in the “... Free Beacon” — “.... Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin, Clinton’s two top aides, also signed copies of the classified information NDA....
Mills sent classified information to officials at the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation in 2012, an email released by the State Department in September shows....”

HER SIGNED NDA LIKELY WILL PUSH HILLARY’S E-MAILS BACK INTO THE NEWS

After several weeks of good news cycles for Hillary Clinton in her role as presidential candidate, her E-mails and what her duties were vis a vis their security will again be topics of discussion by many in the media going forward.

After what seemed like a nice puff piece about newly elected Democrat Assembly Member for the 46th AD, Pamela Harris, and her strongest supporter among the Democrat electeds, Councilman Mark Treyger >>>>> SOMEBODY thought it would be a good idea to pour gasoline on the embers of blame and recrimination smoldering inside the Brooklyn GOP as a result of the still-born campaign of Republican Lucretia Regina- Potter“... Some activists believe had Golden supported Regina-Potter, it would have been enough to pull out the marginal difference....” — J*P UPDATES, 11/5/15

The J*P Updates article attributed to Mr. Ryan Haas starts out tamely enough: “Democratic candidate Pamela Harris defeated Republican Lucretia Regina-Potter in the AD 46 Special Election held Tuesday to fill the seat vacated by Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, who left the New York State Assembly to take a job in the private sector.... Harris ‘margin of victory’ was approximately 1,500 votes....” (See “Sea Gate Elects Pamela Harris as New Assemblywoman”
by Ryan Haas [however the article also contains this apparent attribution “(By: JP Staff)”], 11/5/15, J*P Updates [http://jpupdates.com/2015/11/05/sea-gate-elects-pamela-harris-as-new-assemblywoman/]). However, it doesn’t finish-off any thing like that. — After mentioning something that Democratic County Leader Frank Seddio said about needing to work hard to hold the seat in the future, the Republicans are contrasted by showing them looking backwards and still fighting old fights.

The article takes turn that is quite snarky and slams several of the current top card Republicans, obviously contending in what clearly seem to be on-going Brooklyn GOP fisticuffs flowing out of the 2015 election cycle.

WHAT J*P UPDATES HAD TO SAY

Since this is principally a local Republican blog that tries to cover local GOP politics, let’s cut to the chase of this feature purportedly by Ryan Haas in J*P Updates from a local GOP POV.

Here’s what Mr. Haas or somebody else on the J*P Updates staff had to say about the Brooklyn GOP coming out of the 46th AD special elecetion: “.... Following the election, the Republican party, along with its activists, had bitter feelings toward Sen. Marty Golden — the lone GOP candidate elected from Brooklyn for not helping enough. Some activists believe had Golden supported Regina-Potter, it would have been enough to pull out the marginal difference....
In recent fighting within the GOP Brooklyn Party, some claim that Golden went against former Assemblyman Arnaldo A. [Ferraro], who was heavily involved trying desperately to pull out a win. [Accusations] surfaced that the conservative Brooklyn Chairman Gerry Kassar was responsible for pushing Golden to not help the GOP....”

Somebody inside the Brooklyn GOP or very close to it had to be the source of the material in this J*P Updates piece. Judging by whom was put in the distorted focus and whom was cast in a relatively better light, I do have my suspicions..... HMMMMM !!!

Based upon those suspicions, I think it’s fair to opine that whoever is slamming Marty Golden and Jerry Kassar to the folks at J*P Updates, clearly intended for public dissemination is not following one of the key post-election plays called in a huddle of the Brooklyn GOP leaders at the candidate’s headquarters on election night.

"MARGINAL DIFFERENCE" ??? — "MARGINAL DIFFERENCE" !!!

If the line that mentioned "marginal difference" came from the GOP source, it bespeaks an absolute delusion on somebody's part. It also shows a complete lack of political astuteness when speaking to the press.

Hmmm, who might that be???

[Time to cue the DJ with that old Cher recording] ... La-dee-da-dee-dee.....

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

IN A SPECIAL ELECTION THAT HAD BEEN TOUTED TO BE "COMPETITIVE" --- LUCRETIA REGINA-POTTER APPEARS TO BE HEADED TO ONE OF THE WORST DEFEATS EVER BY A REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE IN THE 46TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICTNeither repeat mailings targeted at GOP households, repeated robo-calls by the candidate, nor "unofficial" dog whistle letters from un-named "neighbors" made any difference in a "Special Election" with clear racial overtones The Democratic Party's decision to select a "black woman" to represent a majority "white district" in the New York State Assembly had been seen as an excellent "opportunity" for the new Kings County Republican leadership team to have an unexpected "win" in the home area of the newly elected KCRP Chairman, Dr. Arnaldo Ferraro, and the newly selected KCRP Secretary, Lucretia Regina-Potter [ in addition to being part of the new Brooklyn GOP leadership team, Candidate Potter had also been the long-time GOP district leader in the 46th AD and it's predecessor district].

The GOP in Southwest Brooklyn is expected to undergo at least a year of recrimination over this race, back-and-forth, which is likely to continue well into the 2016 election cycle

At midnight on Election Night, the result, as posted on the NYC BOE, is as follows:

".... Member of the Assembly 46th Assembly District

Name

Party

Votes

Percentage

1

PAMELA HARRIS

Democratic

4078

58.45 %

2

LUCRETIA REGINA-POTTER

Republican

1898

27.20 %

3

LUCRETIA REGINA-POTTER

Conservative

530

7.60 %

4

PAMELA HARRIS

Working Families

286

4.10 %

5

LUCRETIA REGINA-POTTER

Independence

111

1.59 %

6

LUCRETIA REGINA-POTTER

People's Choice

34

0.49 %

7

WRITE-IN

40

0.57 %

6977

Totals by Candidate

1

PAMELA HARRIS

4364

62.55 %

2

LUCRETIA REGINA-POTTER

2573

36.88 %

3

WRITE-IN

40

0.57 %

6977

Percentage of Scanners Reported: 99.00 % ..." (See " BOARD OF ELECTIONS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK -- General 2015 --UNOFFICIAL ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS

Monday, November 2, 2015

Former CIA top officer clearly stated that no questionable intelligence was ever given to Secretary of State Clinton about any “Video” being part of any motivation for the Benghazi attackers on 9/11/12 Evidence clearly points to fact that the Benghazi narrative pushed for weeks by the Obama Administration following the attacks of 9/11/12 was a “Big Lie” motivated by domestic U.S. politics — and Hillary Clinton was completely signed-on to that “Big Lie” from the very beginningAND NOW — THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WON’T AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF SEC/STATE HILLARY CLINTON’S E-MAILS WITH THE WHITE HOUSE — INCLUDING THOSE RELATED TO BENGHAZI

WHAT THE FORMER [ACTING] HEAD OF THE CIA SAID

According to Kerry Picket writing in the Daily Caller — “Michael Morell, former deputy director and acting director of the CIA, disputes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s assertion that bad intelligence led her to blame the attack on the diplomatic facilities in Benghazi was a result of a You Tube video that ridiculed Islam.... In Morell’s 2015 book The Great War of Our Time, he writes that while the CIA knew ‘the demonstration and violence in Cairo were sparked by people upset over a YouTube video,’ intelligence ‘analysts never said the video was a factor in the Benghazi attacks.’ (p. 205-206)....” (See “Former CIA Chief: ‘Analysts Never Said The Video Was A Factor In The Benghazi Attacks’ ” by Kerry Pickett, 10/31/15, Daily Caller [http://dailycaller.com/2015/10/31/former-cia-chief-analysts-never-said-the-video-was-a-factor-in-the-benghazi-attacks/]).

As those who watched Hillary Clinton testify at the Benghazi Hearing and readers of the Daily Caller article cited above know clearly, Hillary Clinton’s E-mails and other records of her communications show that she was quite aware on the night of the Benghazi attacks and the days immediately following that a You Tube video had nothing to do with causing those attacks.....

CLINTON REPEATEDLY BLAMED THE INTERNET VIDEO — STARTING ON THE NIGHT OF THE BENGHAZI ATTACKS AND THE DAYS IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER

According to the Kerry Pickett- Daily Caller analysis — Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton, made public statements that were vastly different from her private remarks about the attack.

On the very night of the attack, the State Department sent out a statement by Secretary Clinton wherein she blamed the Benghazi attack on “inflammatory material posted on the internet.”
Clinton made a similar public statement the day after the attack, “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior [the deadly attack in Benghazi], along with the protest that took place at our Embassy in Cairo yesterday, as a response to inflammatory material posted on the internet.”

Secretary Clinton then continued to blame the internet video for the attack in Benghazi during her formal public remarks in the following days after the attacks, as well. Some of these remarks statements were reported to have occurred at the formal transfer of remains ceremony for the Benghazi victims at Andrews Air Force Base; and others privately with some of the family members of the victims.

THIS WEEKEND THE HOUSE SELECT BENGHAZI COMMITTEE RELEASED A REDACTED E-MAIL THAT SHOWED THE LIBYAN EMBASSY HAD CAUTIONED THEIR HIGHER-UPS AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT THAT THEY SHOULD NOT CONFLATE THE INTERNET VIDEO NARRATIVE WITH ANY OF THE STATED CAUSES FOR THE ATTACK ON BENGHAZI ON 9/11/12

In part, the E-mail released by the Benghazi Committee said the following: “Date: Friday, September 14, 2012 6:43:39 AM.... Colleagues, I mentioned to [redacted] this morning, and want to share with all of you, our view at Embassy Tripoli that we must be cautious in our local messaging with regard to the inflammatory film trailer, adapting it to Libyan conditions. Our monitoring of the Libyan media and conversations with Libyans suggest that the films not as explosive of an issue here as it appears to be in other countries in the region.... And it is becoming increasingly clear that the series of events in Benghazi was much more terrorist attack than a protest which escalated into violence. It is our opinion that in our messaging, we want to distinguish, not conflate, the events in other countries with this well-planned attack by militant extremists....”

NONETHELESS, HILLARY CLINTON TESTIFIED TO THE BENGHAZI COMMITTEE THAT SHE “... NEEDED TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE VIDEO...”

Very importantly, key passages in the Pickett-Daily Caller article made note of the following testimony by former Secretary Hillary Clinton: “When asked at last week’s Benghazi Committee hearing why she blamed the You Tube video when she knew very well it was not the cause of the attack, Clinton proclaimed, she ‘needed to be talking about the video.... ‘None of us can speak to the individual motivations of those terrorists who overran our compound and who attacked our CIA annex. There were probably a number of different motivations,’ she said, adding that the intelligence community ‘took the lead’ in analyzing the information at the time.... ‘We also knew, congressman, because my responsibility was what was happening throughout the region, I needed to be talking about the video, because I needed to put other governments and other people on notice that we were not going to let them get away with attacking us, as they did in Tunis, as they did in Khartoum,’ she said....”

ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE OUTLET FOCUSES ON HILLARY CLINTON”S VERY “NUANCED” AND “EVOLVED” TESTIMONY ABOUT THE YOU-TUBE VIDEO AND THE BENGHAZI ATTACKS

“[Hillary Clinton] now takes a more nuanced, twisted-like-a-pretzel position in which maybe some non-terrorist Muslims were suddenly stirred to violence in Libya by the video, but really at the same time it was a terrorist attack, something she testified [at the Benghazi Hearing had] been her position the whole time. She talked about the video publicly not to point fingers but as a warning, she testified, to those who might attack U.S. interests in the region. In other words, like a good defense lawyer, Hillary was trying to confuse the issues and muddy the waters.... [Former Sec/State Hillary Clinton] seems able to function just fine with what must be chronic cognitive dissonance....” (See “HILLARY: I DIDN'T BLAME BENGHAZI ON THE YOUTUBE VIDEO – Four pinocchios for the pantsuit” by Matthew Vadum, 10/23/15, Frontpage Mag [http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260544/hillary-i-didnt-blame-benghazi-youtube-video-matthew-vadum]).

It seems that based upon her testimony, Hillary’s current position about the You Tube video’s “CAUSING” the Benghazi attacks is that — she didn’t specifically say that about Benghazi, itself, but she had to say it when talking about Benghazi to stop other events like Benghazi happening in other locations that were similar to Benghazi — and she said during the days shortly after the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, the intelligence wasn’t clear that the video didn’t cause the Benghazi attacks and there was confusion about whether it did — and she believes to this day that some of those involved in the Benghazi attacks might have been motivated by the video to some extent. OR TO PUT IT MORE SIMPLY — SHE BELIEVES SHE NEVER SAID IT, BUT IF SHE DID SAY IT, SHE BELIEVED THAT TO SOME EXTENT IT WAS TRUE AT THE TIME BECAUSE OF ALL THE CONFUSION — AND FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES, SHE STILL BELIEVES IT

WHITE HOUSE BLOCKS RELEASE OF CLINTON-OBAMA AND OTHER CLINTON-WHITE HOUSE E-MAILS

Along with the scheduled release of thousands more pages of HRC’s E-mails this past Friday by the State Department, came an announcement that the State Department won't release any Obama-Clinton E-mails, because the White House won't authorize the release of the handful of emails between President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Citing as its justification for that non-release was longstanding precedent invoked by several past presidents of both parties, which precedents established that internal presidential communications should remain confidential (See “White House Aims to Stop Release of Obama-Clinton Emails” by Maichael D. Shear & Michael S. Schmidt, 10/30/15, NY Times
[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/us/politics/white-house-seeks-to-keep-some-clinton-emails-secret.html?_r=0]).

It should be noted that the Times' article cited above made clear that although it was refusing to allow the State Department to "release" the problematic E-mails and other communications, the White House was not specifically invoking the principle and doctrine of "Executive Privilege," which usually involves significant political conflicts with one of the other branches of government.

Former Secretary Clinton has long said that she wants ALL of her E-mails related to Benghazi (And other matters of Public Interest) released — subject to vetting for classification and redaction for security. However, from very early in the process, there had been talk of the probable invocation of Presidential privilege for E-mails to the President and his top White House advisers.

In some ways Hillary might have been playing it all ways to the middle all along — calling for complete openness, while expecting that security considerations and Executive Privilege would be used to shield some very significant material in her E-mails, including critical Benghazi material.

About Me

I formerly have commented on various political blogs concerning Republican politics. Although the focus of my political commentary has been on the Brooklyn GOP and other aspects of politics in Brooklyn, I have also posted commentary about national matters.
If you wish to contact Galewyn Massey directly, please, Email to galewynmasban@gmail.com